More than 20 Valparaiso University students recently participated in Valpo’s eighth annual Summer in China Program, an intensive five-week program in which they immersed themselves in Chinese culture and gained firsthand experiences in an increasingly global workplace.  As part of the program, students held internships with a variety of companies and institutions located in Hangzhou, a business and industrial center in eastern China, to boost their readiness to work in an international setting.

Alex Smith, a junior and new media-journalism major, completed his internship at Intouch Zhejiang, an English language magazine and newspaper based in Hangzhou.

“The Internship experience in China has helped me view my journalism major in a completely different way,” Smith said.  “Before my internship started, I had a lot of questions about how journalism could thrive in a communist nation, particularly the ethical considerations that reporters face and the difficulties they might encounter with the government.  I learned much about their day-to-day operations and got to experience news reporting in a completely different country.”

Zhimin Lin, associate professor of political science and chair of Valpo’s Chinese and Japanese Studies Program, said the internships provided a valuable learning opportunity to students such as Smith.

“Working in China provides Valpo students with a unique perspective into another culture,” he said. “Having an international background is extremely valuable in the 21st century, and gaining that workplace experience in another country helps prepare students to work with people of different backgrounds and the challenges and opportunities of internationalization.”